Happy New Year!

January 6, 2016

I'm not big on making New Year's resolutions. As a matter of fact, I think I've made one maybe three times in my life. Why? Well, why start tomorrow what you can start today? I get that it's a new year and so maybe that chunk of time can be well spent on improving some area of your life and I think that's great! Maybe I just don't have my stuff together enough after the holidays to come up with a resolution. Or maybe it has everything to do with the fact that, in my childhood, I used to make birthday resolutions. Haha! I was so weird. They were basically the same thing as a New Year's resolution except I'd start them on my birthday. The thing about them though is that I'd think of these things that I wanted to change in my life and I'd think of them in July or November or months before my February birthday but I'd tell myself the change wouldn't take effect until next February 18th. Procrastinating my better person. Yep, that was me.

I know. Cue the well deserved "ha"s followed by the eye roll.

But, I've learned from those silly days and tell myself now that if I want or need something to change in my life, I'm going to start tomorrow. "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll love ya, tomorrow, is only a day away!"

We just finished watching "Annie" and the girls loved it so you can't blame me.

Aaaanyway, what I stopped in for today was to one, wish you all a Happy New Year! I'm not going to do a whole recap of 2015 because, even though it sounds fun to rehash what I got done (and the hundreds of projects I didn't get done), I'd rather a fresh start with a little re-introducion. )If you want a recap, scroll down the side bar just a tad and you'll see the archive. Lots of fun to be had there, I tell ya.) ;)

I write mostly about projects and tutorials but I don't write about myself or hash out thoughts very often mostly because I don't have the time to do both and on the fun meter, projects always win. However, the funny thing is that most of the posts in my drafts folder are heart-to-hearts - posts written after a thought-provoking moment that I just never finished hashing out. Maybe I should make a resolution to finish those...

Not today though because I grabbed a random little questionnaire that I found somewhere in the depths of the internet to unload on you. My hope is for you to get to know who I am a little more (you can read this post too) and for me to get to know you a little more too! I'd love if you introduced yourself to me in the comments! Answer all the following questions for yourself or just give me a quick paragraph. Or, if you're a blogger yourself, do the same! Either way, I'd love to see who exactly is out there because as much as I can tell myself "I blog like no one's reading", I do that but I also know I have some pretty sweet people reading. :)

A-train and I are currently expecting our fourth little bundle of crazy...

...and I'm a thinker. Like my brain never stops. I'm always seeing things and getting ideas and scheming how to do something with not a lot of money. This is probably what I look like most of the time:

I decided to start blogging to have something to do while Anthony had his head in his books while studying for his masters'.

Since then though, it's become so much more than just a tool to beat boredom. Like I said above, I like doing and making things with just a little bit of change. We're on a really tight budget but I have a desire for a really pretty house and wardrobe and the two don't really mix...unless I can make myself there. I know there are other people in the same boat and I also know that as a country, we could afford to spend a lot less on things and a lot more on people, so here I am, showing a few ways we can do that. The more you read my blog, the more you'll realize what my idea of "affordable" is. Affordable has zero to do with West Elm or Pottery Barn or even full-priced Target to me even though I love all of those places. Affordable is concocting a kid's room for under $100 or making over a kitchen for $1100...or maybe that's just plain cheap but to me, the two go hand-in-hand. Affordable has lots do with being patient. It's finding something you really want and then gathering the patience to wait until you can save up for it or it goes on sale or you find it secondhand or until an idea pops up in which you can make it for a big fraction of the price. I could write a whole post about what else I think affordable is and why everyone could embrace it but before I jump down that rabbit hole, it's onto that questionnaire...

If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what would it be for? Ugh, parties. I love them but I am definitely not a planner of them which is why you'll never see a party post on this here blog (I recommend Kathryn for that!) I like simple. I'd rather plan my next household revamp than plan any sort of party. However, I'll admit it has been sort of fun in the past to plan low-key birthday parties for the kids - trying to see how much I can get for not a lot of money...no surprise there.

If you could paint a picture of any scenery you've seen before, what would you paint? Really, I shouldn't be painting anything but abstract because no Picasso am I.

If you could choose to stay at a certain age forever, what age would that be? Hmm...maybe if I was 120 I could better answer that one but right now there's a possibility that I have more than half of my life left so who knows what age will be the best, right?

If you had to work on only one project for the next year, what would it be? Gosh, that question makes my mind go bonkers. I guess if I had to choose, it'd be our master bedroom, specifically, whipping up that upholstered headboard that's been on the assembly line for too, too long.

If you were immortal for a day, what would you do? I'd take a huge flashlight (like huge) and go trolling around the bottom of the ocean for all sorts of treasure.

If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? Had to? I've actually come to love my name (I wasn't a fan of it growing up) so that would be hard for me. If you would've asked me this question when I was 10 I would've told you either Nicole or Valerie. Now though? Probably Fiona. It's my favorite girl name that probably won't ever make it down to one of our kids because it screams "Shrek" to Anthony; not cute, sweet baby girl. :(

If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet? Jesus. Duh.

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Obliterate our mortgage...right before I bombed our student loans.

When you have 30 minutes of free-time, how do you pass the time? Free-time? What's that?

What was the last experience that made you a stronger person? Raising newborn twins.

What is the best party you've ever been to? Raising newborn...kidding. That's a party of a whole different sort.

What did you do growing up that got you into trouble? Anything I wasn't supposed to be doing that involved my youngest sister or that she found out about. I love her now but back then? Well, we won't rehash the past but let's just say she was that little bird always leaked info to my mom. Info about driving home from school with my knees, doing cookies in a cornfield with my then-boyfriend in his truck, stuffing all of my clothes under my dressers when my mom told me I had to clean my room before I went to a friend's house, etc, etc, etc..........................

What do you miss most about being a kid? Definitely not anything involved the above question. It has to be living on the farm. The (usually) carefree life and great outdoors.

The best part of waking up is? That first, warm, sip of creamer with a side of coffee.

Old house or new house? Old.

Heels or flats? Flats or semi-low heels. I know maybe this sounds ridiculous to some but I've got really long legs that look way too long with high heels. We're talking like stilts. Three inches is about as high as I'll go and even that height makes me self-conscious.

Favorite food? Ice cream...and don't even tell me it's not a food, it's a dessert because it goes down the trap just like everything else. So, it's a food.

Favorite color? Green.

Best gift I've ever received? Anthony. He's the gift that just keeps on giving.

There. You can now claim to know me. I have a real fear of coming off as fake and so I try to be as real and true-to-myself on here as possible. I won't ever share something I don't like or don't know enough about just for the sake of a sponsored post or to get paid. I feel like the blogosphere has become increasingly infiltrated with advertising and I don't ever want to become that here. I want to share things I really love with you, things I pay good money for, things you might like too because they have a really good track record over here. I want you to be able to trust every opinion I state and not wonder if I'd really buy that if it wasn't given to me or if I am not just saying I like it under the pressure of a good product review. Maybe, and probably, this all means that I won't ever make big bucks off my blog but that's okay with me. I write for the sake of sharing and teaching and that's it. No ulterior motives here.

Thank you for reading. Truly. I'm so thankful to have this outlet and it's been a great source of therapy for me as I go through this stage in my life when all I hear most my days are toddler talk. I love this stage but it does feel great to be able to contribute to the world in a 'more adult' way sometimes. :)

I hope you all have a great upcoming weekend and I look forward to finding out more about you!

9 comments

Okay, am I the only one that presumably missed some previous post with the pregnancy announcement? Or maybe forgot, or blocked it out because I have 4 of my own and know how crazy your life will turn.Anyway, even if I should have commented before now. Congratulations! I've been told even numbers is the way to go; apparently because they can always pair and re-pair off to humour themselves.

Haha! I'm sure it's maybe that you forgot with four nearby! I can only imagine the crazy that awaits. I always say, thank God they don't stay little forever. As much as sometimes we want them too, it's a blessing because we'd all be crazy after 50 years of toddlerdom, right? ;) And I second the even numbers! My sister and I were just talking about that! Pairing off for roller coasters was on my mind...haha!

I'm SO not a home-decoration-type person, but your blog totally inspires me! That dresser is still sitting in the barn waiting to be painted, sure, but I would have passed on it completely if I hadn't seen all your awesome furniture rehab projects! Now to work up the energy to get out there and sand and paint after the kids are in bed...

Happy New Year! Just a quick comment to say thanks for the great blog. It's funny - I am so totally NOT into home decoration or fashion. I'm very much a minimalist, functional kinda person. But I love your blog exactly because you're so real and honest. So I think you're doing a great job with that. And somehow, I enjoy seeing your projects and what you manage to do on a very limited budget. Always so beautiful and inspiring. Despite the fact that I will never, ever do any of them. Haha. I'm looking forward to hearing about life with 4 kiddos. We have 3 (I'm the mom with the kids 9 months apart, a surprise pregnancy after adopting a newborn - don't know if you remember from a comment thread long ago) and we would love more. Now we just have to see if our youngest was the "one time miracle baby" or the start of something new! Anyway, I know you'll be honest about the craziness of life with 4 :)

I definitely love your blog for all your awesome projects (you have beautiful taste) & how REAL you are. Sometimes I see projects online and I am left wondering HOW they really did something, but you have great, detailed tutorials. I am not at a point in my life where I would take on much DIY, but it's nice to have your blog to turn to should I need to. So thanks for blogging! I also enjoy reading about your cute family and love posts like these, that help me get a better sense of who you are. There's not much of a point to my comment other than to say "hey! I like your blog! Keep doing your thing!" Happy new year! :)

I definitely love your blog for all your awesome projects (you have beautiful taste) & how REAL you are. Sometimes I see projects online and I am left wondering HOW they really did something, but you have great, detailed tutorials. I am not at a point in my life where I would take on much DIY, but it's nice to have your blog to turn to should I need to. So thanks for blogging! I also enjoy reading about your cute family and love posts like these, that help me get a better sense of who you are. There's not much of a point to my comment other than to say "hey! I like your blog! Keep doing your thing!" Happy new year! :)

I've been reading your blog since you were pregnant with Sebastian. Our due dates were close and I was looking for great blogs to read. Since then, I've really come to love reading anything you write (despite the fact that I'm no fashionista or home decor guru like you!). I'm just a mom of 2, lover of Jesus eho enjoys reading! Thanks for the inspiration and for finding any time to write with 3 (soon to be 4!) little ones :)

Awesome! So you can relate to me and those really sometimes terrible twos? I'm replying as I sit supervising Sebastian in time-out right now... Haha! Anyway, thank you for reading Jen and thank you for taking the time to comment! It means a lot to me! :)

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